King Pharma announces intention to fight Actavis' generic Avinza

By Drew Buono

BRISTOL, Tenn. King Pharmaceuticals has recently learned that Actavis has filed paperwork with the Food and Drug Administration to make a generic version of their pain medication Avinza (morphine sulfate).

King “intends to vigorously enforce the patent on Avinza” by starting legal procedures that will most likely ending up with the two companies meeting in federal court. King spokesman James Green said, “The business of generic manufacturers is to challenge as many patents as possible, hoping to win a few.”

At the beginning of the year King acquired all the rights to Avinza from Ligand Pharmaceuticals and has seen revenues of $9 million and $35 million in the first and second quarters of 2007.